Kimberly Cheatle has resigned as Director of the U.S. Secret Service following intense scrutiny over the agency’s failure to prevent a would-be assassin from attacking former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally. The White House announced Cheatle’s resignation on Tuesday, amid growing calls for accountability and an ongoing investigation into the security breach.
Resignation Follows Trump Rally Security Failure
Cheatle’s resignation comes after the Secret Service faced significant criticism for its handling of a July 13 incident in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman fired at Trump from a rooftop overlooking the rally. Despite the Secret Service’s mandate to protect current and former U.S. presidents, the agency was unable to prevent the attack, leading to widespread condemnation from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
Trump, who was attending the rally as a Republican presidential candidate, was grazed in the right ear by the gunfire. Tragically, one rally attendee was killed during the incident. The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was subsequently shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.
The controversy intensified when Cheatle appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, where she faced bipartisan criticism. Cheatle declined to provide detailed answers about the security measures in place and the response to the gunman’s suspicious behavior, prompting several lawmakers to call for her resignation.
James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, expressed that while Cheatle’s resignation is a step towards accountability, a comprehensive review of the security failures is necessary. “We need a full review of how these security failures happened so that we can prevent them going forward,” Comer said in a statement. “We will continue our oversight of the Secret Service.”